Senior defensive lineman on Illinois's 2023 roster.
6′2″ · 285 lb · Gibson City, IL
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
The story
4 defensive lineman on Illinois's roster.
The record fills in as he plays.
His career, year by yearBryce Barnes
Wins his gap play after play. Bryce Barnes has played for two head coaches in four seasons at Illinois. The receipt: 4 tackles against Maryland — Week 7, 2023.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
How it ended
Four seasons at Illinois — his college career is complete.
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2020–2023
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Rod Smith → Bret Bielema. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Season context · Team result + system
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Splits · Per-game
2023 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 2.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road3g | 3.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 2.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+3g | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bret Bielema
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2023
Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.
Recognition
Production · CFB Index Score
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 7 · 2023
W 27–24
at Maryland
4 TOT · 2 SOLO
A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 on the road.
With L. Altmyer — 206 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 63.1 · 29 rush yds (13 car) · H. Robertson — 43 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 53 LONG
Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 8 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 30-28vs Toledo | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 4 tackles |
| Wk 2 | L 23-34@ Kansas | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 13-30vs Penn State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 23-17vs Florida Atlantic | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 27-24@ Maryland | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 27-26@ Minnesota | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 48-45vs Indiana | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 43-45vs Northwestern | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 20 | 11 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
Play style
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
CFB Index positional classification
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
20 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 2 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
Player DNA
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
His 2023 production profile sits closest to Jacob Merrifield’s 2022 season.
Matches Jacob on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Daishon Folsom's senior season at Buffalo (2024).
Matches Daishon on
Player DNA